


How Mal Becomes the King of Ravka

by NinaZeniksCleavage



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Gay Sex, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28944336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaZeniksCleavage/pseuds/NinaZeniksCleavage
Summary: Mal uncovers a secret about Alina's OTHER lovers and it gives him everything he ever wanted....
Relationships: Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Nikolai Lantsov, Zoya Nazyalensky/Mal Oretsev
Kudos: 2





	How Mal Becomes the King of Ravka

The air was damp and warm across Ravka as I made my way from the little palace at Os Alta out to the training grounds. It had been weeks since I’d seen Alina, with Nikolai keeping her to himself half of the time and that wretch the darkling the other half, but still I waited. Waited for some sign that she would return to me, perhaps this time for good. I could feel each of my steps sinking into the mud as the spring air turned what had been solid ground into a sludge that maybe even the most talented of Grisha would be unable to tame. It clung to my boots in heavy chunks and as I approached the shooting range, I kicked a load of it off against the fence post.

I was about to step into the allotted area for rifle training when I heard hushed voices from the other side of the structured lean-to, and a flourish of a black cloak told me exactly who was on the other side. I pressed my body up against the splintering wood to conceal my presence and listened.

“Don’t you trust me?” The Darkling said from behind the barrier, “I will give you the world Nikolai... my fox…” 

I heard the sound of scuffling feet and what seemed like punches thrown and watched as the blonde prince tumbled out of the enclosure and into the soft muddy ground. I pivoted on my boots and with my back to the wall shuffled around the back of the lean-to in order to get a better look at what precisely was occurring before me.

The billowing black cape of The Darkling nearly concealed the entire events which unfolded before me, but I felt my breath catch in my chest as I realized what was occurring. The sounds I heard weren’t punches.

Nikolai attempted to get to his feet and The Darkling shoved him back to the ground, smiling. I was about to rush out and help, despite my own misgivings about the Ravkan prince, when I saw Nikolai smile back at him, grabbing him by the thigh and pulling him down into the mud as well.

I’d seen enough to feel sick and knew that I needed to find Alina. She had to know what was going on behind her back. Had to know--

“You shouldn’t be spying on people,” said a youthful voice from behind me. I looked over my left shoulder to find a young Grisha male with red hair and dark eyes, no older than I staring intently at The Darkling and the prince. He had a sneer on his face that indicated he liked what he was seeing even less than me and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on there.

“Look,” I said, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder before thinking better of it, “I was never here. Got that?” He gave me a glare and, without replying, turned back to the loathsome scene. I did not, instead choosing to venture on back to the little palace to find Alina.

Unfortunately for me, as always, Alina was engaged in some event or another and though it pained me to do so, I pushed the encounter to the back of my mind to bring to her later.

I wandered aimlessly about, ending up in a long, empty corridor that was lined with shelves and shelves of books. There was nothing for me here, but a few minutes in peace to think never went amiss and I took the opportunity gladly. The halls were quiet as this time was usually reserved for Grisha study, and though I didn’t truly belong here, I found solace in these halls.

“Well now,  _ otkazats’ya _ . What are you doing in our hallowed halls?”

I turned to find the most most beautiful woman I’d ever know, Zoya Nazylensky staring at me from a doorway. She was tall, with long black hair and tanned skin. Had she been born royal she would have had a fitting appearance for a queen. But she had been born a Grisha instead and therefore was doomed to take all that beauty to the grave.

Nevertheless, she flaunted what she had, strolling towards me with ease and grace, flipping her hair and crossing her arms. I tried to distract myself but she wasn’t having any of it. Zoya grabbed my chin and yanked it in her direction.

“What’s wrong, Malyen? Can’t stand to look at me after our night together?” I felt my cheeks burn as she reminded me of the mistake, the only mistake, I’d ever made against Alina. A mistake that had cost me her trust and respect. But here stood that mistake and she smelled wonderful. And Alina was nowhere to be found. “I’ve seen every part of you Malyen Oretsev. You cannot hide.”

She gave me a wink and continued on her way, leaving me shifting uncomfortably, absolutely unnerved with my own desire to go after her. Thankfully a clattering at the end of the hall drew my attention and there stood the blond Ravkan prince, looking tousled and please with himself. Surely that couldn’t mean--

“Ah! Mal. Imagine seeing you here. Do you know where Alina is?”

I felt the blood in my veins boil as I tried to keep my breathing steady and bit down on my own lip so hard I tasted blood. The swagger he dared to exude as he made his way towards me nearly had me on my feet and ready to fight him myself.

“No,” I stated plainly, “I don’t know where she is and I don’t know who she is with. I never do anymore.” I heard the disappointment in my voice but prayed that he couldn’t, and stared into his eyes with all the strength I had. “I saw you out there, with him. I saw you and--whatever that was.”

The fox’s cheeks rouged then went utterly white before he grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt and pulled me to my feet. I felt the collar of my pressed cotton shirt snug around my throat and I found myself unable to breathe briefly.

“Listen here. What you saw was nothing. He is  _ nothing _ . I was attempting to use my good looks for intel, nothing more.” I watched as the pupils in his eyes darted slightly, and he let go of me causing me to tumble to the stony floor. He quickly shoved his hands into his pockets and the clicking of men’s shoes came up from behind me.

“Nothing,” said the voice as smooth as a cool fog. “Nothing. Let’s talk about who is nothing bastard prince.”

To this day I have no idea how I didn’t see him. I should have seen him. But as Nikolai opened his mouth to respond a blade as long as my forearm pierced through his center of mass from his back. My eyes searched for the cause of the shower of blood that had rained down on me, spraying my face and the walls behind me, and I found the young man I’d seen watching them earlier. He was looking to the Darkling for approval.

Nikolai looked down to the gaping slice through his midsection and emitted a tiny cry of pain or fear, I didn’t really know. The Darkling smile slowly and nodded to the young man, who then proceeded to slowly yank up on the sword so that it was forced through Nikolai’s left lung as he gasped for air.

“This is the end of you, Nikolai Lantsov. You will go down in Ravkan history as no one. Your name will be forgotten to time as will your face and every deed you’ve ever done.”

The prince attempted to grab the blade, I don’t know what for, and found his hands deeply sliced against the sharp edge of it. His eyes darted to me, pleading for me to do something.

But we both already knew he was a dead man.

Instead, I took a low, steady breath and in the fastest move, I’d ever made, pulled my rifle from my back and fired all its rounds into the chest of The Darkling.

In a moment of panic, the young man who was supporting Nikolai’s guts with the edge of his blade flinched, spilling some of the Prince’s viscera from his body. The Fox’s eyes dimmed, then went still, the deed finally having been completed with the jarring shock of The Darkling’s acolyte.

The smoke from the rifle cleared slowly, but when it did, I found the shadow that had ruled over mine and Alina’s life panting against the marble wall, clutching a chest that was pouring blood like wine.

“How… how could…?”

His eyes searched mine and the young man’s, but the Grisha had the sense to run. He didn’t get far, but he ran all the same. I took several steps forward, rifling through my pocket for further rounds and loading them into my rifle barrel.

“You’re a scourge. A disease that has poisoned my homeland and its royal family and now you will pay the price of that.” I took a few more careful steps until I could see his eyes trembling as his shin began to grey. “And you will pay that price not to your own, not to the Grisha, but to me--a lowly otkazats’ya who will ensure no one remembers your darkness, and all will seek the light henceforth.”

I put the end of my gun to his head but it was unneeded. I watched as the life drained from him and he sunk to the floor, utterly defeated by me, someone he never thought had a scrap of worth. I raised my head with pride as I looked back and forth between the prince--the man who should have been my king--and The Darkling, who would haunt Ravka’s shores no more.

The next few weeks were a disaster with everyone and their brother scrambling for the throne but in the end, all came round to right, and Alina was made queen of Ravka--for now. I was appointed first as her private guard and then, a year later, married her to become her consort. I had gone from an orphanage in the middle of nowhere to the highest seat in Ravka, stood beside the girl I’d loved all my life. The one I’d protected by dispatching the darkness.

I was no hero and no Grisha. I was simply a true Ravkan who wanted to bring justice for my country.


End file.
